A Level Physical Geog > ELSS > Flashcards

ELSS Flashcards

(39 cards)

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1
Q

WATER CYCLE

whats the measure of the ammount that links the stores

A

flux

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2
Q

WATER CYCLE

whats the importance of water to life on earth ( 6)

A

physiological solvent - dissolve substances

transport -solvent in blood and sap, transporting o2 co2…

temp control - evaporation of water cools body

high shc - slow heating and cooling

aquatic habitats

photosyntheses - h from water - glucose

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3
Q

WATER CYCLE

3 main sources and percentages

A

ocean = largest 97%
atmosphere
land

human like only has access to 1%

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4
Q

WATER CYCLE

units of stores and flows

A

stores = thousands of cubic kilometers

flows = thousands of cubic kilomiters/year

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5
Q

WATER CYCLE

infiltration
groundwater store
groundwater flow
interception loss
ablation
evapotranspiration

A

infiltration - water through soil

groundwater store - volume of water in aquifire

groundwater flow - horizontal movement through aquifire

interception loss - volume of water evaporated from leaves

ablation - loss of ice and snow through melting, sublimation

evapotranspiration - evaporation from anywhere including plants

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6
Q

WATER CYCLE

factors affecting interception loss

(4)

A

storage capacity - when vegetation is saturated stemflow and throughfall increases

wind speed = reates of evaporation incrwase due to wind speed and turbulance increasing causing through fall

tree species = evergreen = more then dudicuous as evergreen have needles which trap water and keep leaves all year round

vegetation type = interception losses are greater with trees with largest SA and arerodynamic roughness

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7
Q

WATER CYCLE

2 run off theories

A
  1. infiltration excess overland flow

precipitation rate is greater then infiltration capacity = RUN OFF

linked to rainfall intensity = doesnt have to be saturated

  1. saturated overland flow

run off occours when ground is saturated = impermeable due to pores filled

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8
Q

WATER CYCLE

how are stores and flows infulenced

temporal
human
spatial

A

temporal =

-colder at night
- tropics have no seasons
- night time stomata closes meaning no photosynthesis and o transpiration

human =

  • extraction of water from aquaphor and surface stores
  • more run off in urban areas = impermeable ground

spatial =

lower latitudes = higher temperatures due to the amgle of radiation from sun varying = more evaporation

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9
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

whats a drainage baisin

A

area of land where precipitation collects and drains off into a common outlet such as a river or other body of water

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10
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

factors affecting the inputs human and physical

precipitation
interception

A

precipitation

h= cloud seeding
concreted areas heating up air = rise

p=seasons
high temp = evaporation
low temp = snow
areas of deforestation = less water

interception

h= deforestation

p=rain intensity
tree species
vegetation type

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11
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

factors affecting the flows and outputs human and physical

run off
evaporation
river channel

A

run off

h=urban area - concrete

p= permaebility
gradient

evaporation

h=lake behind dams increases evaporation
climate change

p=temperature

river channel

h= dredging
p= permeability

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12
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

water balance

A

the equilibrium of inputs and outputs

taking into account:

precipitation
evapotranspiration
run off

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13
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

precipitation in depth (2)

A
  • some places is concentrated with rainy and dry seasons
  • high latitudes = snow
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14
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

evaporation in depth (1)

A
  • heat is needed to break mollecuar bonds in water. the energy is absorbed and is released as latent heat in condensation
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15
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

transpiration in depth (2)

A
  • influenced by temperature and wind speed
  • plants shed leaves to reduce water loss
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16
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

  • hydrological cycle process -

condensation

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A
  • when the air rises it cools, the relative humidity increases to 100%, it can no longer hold it as a gas, so condensation occours
17
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

  • hydrological cycle process -

3 types of clouds and formation

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A

cumuliform = parsals of rising air = convective rainfall ( fluffy)

cirrus = high altitude = made from ice crystals ( foggy )

stratus = sheet cloud moving from air moving from high to low temp

18
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

  • hydrological cycle process -

whats the cry-sphere

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A

purt of the planet where ice exists

19
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

  • lapse rates -

whats latent heat

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A
  • energy released or absorbed during a state change
20
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

  • lapse rates -

whats adrabatic expansion

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A
  • energy in clouds doesnt leave as air is a good insulator
21
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

  • lapse rates -

environmental lapse rate

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A
  • rate at which temp chnages with altutude

decreases 6.5/km

22
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

  • lapse rates -

dry adiabatic lapse rate

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A
  • rate at which parcel of dry air heated from the ground cools

temp decrases 10/km

23
Q

THE OPEN WATER CYCLE

  • lapse rates -

saturated adiabatic lapse rate

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A
  • rate at which saturated air cools when it rises through atmosphere

latent heat is releaced whrough condensation

decreases 7 degrees/km

24
Q

LAPSE RATES ( convective rainfall )

how to use in exam question

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A

Convective rainfall all year round within tropics

The ground heats due to solar radiation causing a parsal of dry air to rise at the DRY ADIABATIC LR, cooling at 10 degrees /km. As it rises and cools, it reaches the dew point, the air condenses and latent heat insulates the cloud, reducting LR. The cloud continues to rise and cool at a slower rate now at the SATURATED ADIABATIC LR, at 7 degrees/km. The cloud stops rising when the temp of cloud becomes equal with the temperature of the environment.

25
RAINFALL - orographic rain fall how to use in a question
During summer in the northern hemisphere, southwesterly warm, moist air called the monsoon is forced over himalayas. The air cools as it expands due to decreasing pressure, where it condenses at the dew point, causing extremely high preceipitation in the North of India. However the other side of the tibetian plateau experiences a large rain shadow and an extremely dry desert
26
CARBON CYCLE importance
foccil feuls - economy proteins and carbs - nutrition materilas containing carbon - wood
27
CARBON CYCLE CHANGE / TIME decomposition
DECOMPOSITION anaerobic = methane releaced which is 25x more powerful then co2 - occours in tundra =oxygen depleted aerobic = co2 released - occours in rainforest - due to global warming = increased temperature increases decomposition = more co2 into atmosphere
28
CARBON CYCLE main store
sedimenory rock EG: Limestone at 99.9% and 100,000,00GT
29
SLOW CARBON CYCLE processes
small flux and high stores CARBON INTO ENVIRONMENT co2 diffused into ocean = solution. Used by marine organisms, mixed with clcium to make shells. Die and sink, thousands of years accumulates increasing pressue = sedimentory rock CARBON INTO ATMOSPHERE - volcanos erupting, co2 releaced when tectonic plates melt as one subducts the other. - exposed sedimentory rocks from ejection attacked by acid rain
30
FAST CARBON CYCLE processes
large flux and high stores CARBON INTO ENVIRONMENT - photosynthesis = co2 absorbed by green plants to create feul eg; glucose for metabolic reactions - plyoplankton use dissolved co2 for shells - plants are eaten and co2 moves down food chain CARBON INTO ATMOSPHERE - northen hemisphere winter = few plants growing and more decaying by composers eg; fungi and bacteria usually in humid environment. REaleacing co2 into atmosphere and biosphere - respiration = plants and animals breaking down glucose into energy releacing co2 - combustion = releacing co2 inot environment in presence of o2, can be human or physical
31
CARBON CYCLE CHANGE / TIME
PHOTOSYNTHEIS - governed by temperature cold tundra = slow hot rainforest = fast - measured = net primary productivity PLYOPLANKTON - co2 levels increase = more photosynthesis = more plyoplankton blooms - increased temp = less sea ice and more room for plyoplankton
32
CARBON CYCLE CHANGE / TIME Precipitation
- precipitation + co2 = carbonic acid due to anthroprogenic carbon emissions - increacing acidity in the ocen means more dissolved carbon = sruggling marnie life as they cant build shells as strong = when decomposition occours, less carbon into deep sea
33
CARBON CYCLE CHANGE / TIME weathering
break down of rock in situ ( without movement ) occours due to acid rain = chemical weathering - more acidic rainwater = faster reactions = biological weatering increases
34
CARBON CYCLE CHANGE / TIME Combustion
human burning of foccil feuls = increacing co2 by 10GT/Year neturally occours due to lightning
35
BIOSPHERE AS A CARBON STORE rainforest
- very high net primary productivity @ 2500g/m2/year - high temp all year round = decomposition and photosynthesis = exchange of co2 between biosphere and atmosphere
36
BIOSPHERE AS A CARBON STORE Tundra
- very seasonal with a 9 month winter = short days and low insulation = NPP of 200g/m2/year - 1600GT stored in soil and frozen in permafrost - biological active period of 3 months = top layer of permafrost thawed = photosynthesis and deposition can occour ( deposition not fully leading to peat soil )
37
ATMOSPHERE AS A CARBON STORE
- 0.04% co2 - anthopogenic activity increased co2 by 50% since industrial revolution local scale = diernial = night = increased co2 global scale = seasonal chnage = n hemisphere summer = co2 dropes due to phososynthesis ( n hemisphgere = more land then s )
38
CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN OCEANS physical pump
- co2 diffused into ocen = dissolved in solution - ocean currents transport polewards eg: north atlantic - dissolved carbon cools and sinks bc it smore dense DOWNWELLING - remains fo centuries - deep ocean currents causes UPWELLING meaning carbon diffuses into atmosphere = OUTGASSING - upwelling in warmer environment sas warm waters cant hold as much co2
39
CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN OCEANS biological pump
- co2 solution absorbed by photosynthetic material - plyoplankton mixes co2 and calcium to form skeletons - die and are either eaten or decompose to co2, or sink oto bottom in sedimentry rock
A Level Physical Geog
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